The Schulte Collection consists of 174 maps from 1528-1849 of Iceland or where Iceland is part of the map in an inset.
The maps are made by Europe’s leading mapmakers and numerous maps are unique. The collection was donated to Akureyri Municipality by the German couple Professor Dr Karl-Werner Schulte and Dr Gisela Schulte-Daxbök in 2014. At the time the collection contained 76 maps of Iceland. With additional donations by Dr Karl-Werner in memory of his wife Gisela the collection has been extended to 174 maps.
The majority of maps shows Iceland, some show Iceland together with Greenland and/or Faroe Islands and quite a few cover Iceland in the context of Scandinavia and the Arctic. The maps display the different aspect of mapmakers and how the image of Iceland changed over time and reflect the development of scientific knowledge of the country and mapmaking.
The Schulte Collection is the largest collection of Iceland maps in this period worldwide, even exceeding the number in the National Library in Reykjavík. It is the only collection of Iceland maps which is exhibited every year. Because of the size of the Schulte Collection there are different thematic emphases every year.